Swirling spheres of otherness.

On his return to Vanderfell that morning, Quicksilver at once looked for @Hieronymous. He knew the High King had been significantly more active along the territory outskirts since the birth of the royal brood, so he set about testing the evergreens along the lower reaches for fresh scent markers. On his swift location of a tuft of brown fur that clung to rugged tree bark, the druid made his way promptly along the trail he suspected he might've gone.

He'd promised to be back as soon as Haruki was safely delivered to his family, but certain distractions had delayed his return - and he wished to apologise for that, and hoped for an opportunity to pick his friend's brain for an anecdote for two.


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“Oh, hey,” the silverwhite chirped to Hieronymous when he managed to catch up to him, and loped between the trees to catch up to him with a cheerfully swishing tail. “Sorry for the delay, was... catching up with friends. But I'm here now!” He smiled, a little sheepishly, unprepared to share any information over what particular activity had kept him away a little longer than he meant to. Quicksilver still felt pretty weightless over he and Reiko's development, his confidence boosted, but some things were meant to stay private.

The druid carried on, “how are you and Ira doing? Little ones okay, keeping you busy?”


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Hieronymous took note of the silverwhite's good mood, and for a change he did not blush. He just gave his friend a big, goofy smile. He felt pretty content, knowing his reason for such a shift was safe in the confines of his own mind - tucked away where no one could expose it. Quicksilver would shield and protect it for as long as he needed to, for as long as Orlaith and anyone else felt the need to pry their way into his personal life beyond Vanderfell borders.

Ira and the children were doing find, thankfully, and there was some release in his muscles to hear such confirmation. “And what about you?” Quicksilver questioned with a curious twitch of a velvet ear, and he reached to nip fondly at his friend's mottled chin; had Hiero avoided any mention of his own wellbeing because there was something wrong?


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Hieronymous assured him that all was well on his part too, and Quicksilver did not press further. He had no reason not to trust the High King, even though he was concerned that he might feel overwhelmed with all that'd happened at such a fast pace. There were days where the druid fretted that it might all become too much, the way his life shifted so quickly, but his friend always seemed to take it all in his stride. Of that grace, and of the companionship and family he'd found in their Queen, he'd always felt rather envious.

Less so now, however, that things between he and Reiko had begun to swiftly improve.

“Hey, so... uh,” he gestured ahead, and stepped forward - encouraging his companion to set pace with him. Walking and talking had always been easier for him, as it saved him from twitching and fidgeting awkwardly in place; “has Orlaith... talked to you or Ira, recently?”


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Quicksilver, not entirely sure if Hieronymous' bond with Orlaith was anything as strong as the one he'd forged with him, felt nervous to discuss the issue she seemed to have with him. He always had harboured concern over what others might think of him. Always eager to please, the silverwhite felt as though he did his best for the pack as a whole by committing himself to his studies and maintaining their stores all by himself. So it bothered him, naturally, to have been accused of not caring for Vanderfell - and more so to think that she might be borderline stalking him.

The High King had not been interrogated as he had, it seemed, and as far as he was aware Ira had not been informed. Good, he mused, for he did not wish to trouble the Queen while she tended to her newborns with such childish behaviour from her most trusted guard. “Okay, so,” he inhaled a deep breath, “she isn't too happy with me, and my... coming and going. She seems to believe I'm up to no good.” He gazed ahead, through the trees that rose above and on either side of them, and twitched a whisker thoughtfully.


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The druid stepped carefully over a branch that lay in his path; “she thinks I am tending to another pack more so than this one,” he said, rolling a shoulder and emitting a breath of awkward laughter at how ridiculous it sounded to him. “I assume Shiroshika, since... I see someone from there often.”

He blinked around, briefly, to seek the High King's gaze curiously. Hieronymous knew of his fondness for the Empress from the Northern reaches. Ira was his wife, and Quicksilver thought there to be some unwritten rule not to keep secrets from one's significant other, so... she'd surely told him? Maybe asked him to play dumb over it, should it ever come up in conversation? It didn't seem like the kind of behaviour to expect of the High Queen, so he tilted his lobes backward somewhat guiltily as he blinked ahead of him once more as he queried as to whether or not she worried him.

“I... a little, I guess?” Angry women were fucking terrifying! “I didn't want to tell Orlaith, because I didn't appreciate her prying, but... you remember Reiko?” Quicksilver lashed his tail thoughtfully between his pale hocks, “she was here to celebrate your wedding day, and you helped me with her when she was almost swept away in the run.”


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He would agree, that it was not the job of Orlaith to question his work ethic nor his relationships within and outwith their pack. Neither Ira nor Hieronymous had ever judged him for his loyalty, not even when he'd disappeared for those long weeks. Vanderfell had welcomed him home with open arms - all except one, it seemed. He'd been too distracted at the time to notice, to care, but now that she'd strewn all her issues with him out in the open, he couldn't deny how her accusation and poor opinion had hurt.

“That's right,” he said, and exhaled a breathy sigh. He shook out his tousled neck furs, and carried on: “I... I love her, Hiero.” He'd said those exact words to Ira months prior, though spoke them now with greater confidence. “I have loved her all along, and I... things were complicated.” He explained how he'd initially made a very wrong assumption that she'd already been wed to another, considering her children of the previous year. He shared how the High Queen had tried to guide him toward a new path, one that he'd tried to want for himself - one without his snowflower.

But time and time again, fate drove them together again. No matter how he tried, he couldn't seem to outrun it, and he'd recently come to feel more willing to embrace it. “But things are better now, and she and I - Hiero, she... she loves me back.”


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He was excited, of course, for the way in which his relationship with Reiko had begun to at last veer in a more positive direction. The months that brought them to where they were now had been difficult, but Quicksilver was keen to move past them and dive headfirst into a brighter, far better future.

He had, in typical Quicksilver fashion, naturally got ahead of himself. The druid was good at overthinking things, especially his life choices, and should things with Reiko continue to blossom he knew of the sacrifice he'd need to make. It would mean relocating himself down the line, separating himself from Ira and Hiero and their wonderful cubs who he'd already come to adore. The druid didn't want to rush things along and had considered with great anxiety how Reiko's yearling twins might feel should their mother seek something more official with him, and he was terrified of these changes that would come at him from all angles.

“I don't either, but... maybe,” he paused, and twisted awkwardly to scratch an itch on his neck with hind toes before he carried on, sweeping his flank to the exposed roots of a half-fallen fir tree to deposit a fresh scent mark, “Orlaith would feel her suspicion accurate, should she know that I wish to court a she-wolf that is not one of our own? I don't know,” he twitched a whisker, “and I just... don't understand why she suddenly wants to interfere in my business.” She was scary, sure, but it didn'tmean he was about to submit such sensitive information about his turbulent love life.


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As sad as it would be to leave his home and all it meant to him, Quicksilver was sure to remind himself of the good things that could come of a union with Reiko. He would at last have the love and companionship he'd long yearned for; Vanderfell and Shiroshika could come together as stronger allies. He'd thought of it at great length and fretted for some time, so fearful he was that Hiero and Ira might feel bitterly toward any choice he'd make that did not prioritise their pack. To have the High King's support confirmed felt like a huge weight was lifted from atop his already bowed shoulders.

“I-I don't... know what to say,” the druid swayed, his tail wagging cheerfully as he moved to bump shoulders with his friend, “thank you. It means a lot.”

His mention of a new title for him at last brought Quicksilver to an abrupt halt, and his expression shifted to one of contemplation. He and Reiko hadn't discussed making things official at all, but it was the next step, right? He did hope to make a grand proposal if things continued to go as well as they had been. Hiero had risen to Alpha alongside his bride when they wed, so Quicksilver could understand his assumption - but, “I'm not sure, I... they might do things differently?”

"Emperor" sounded too grand a title for a wolf who still couldn't remember his own name.


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Wanna fade here?

---

After thinking so long over Orlaith's scorn, and having been clinging even longer to his feelings for Reiko, it felt good to finally lay it all out. It was as though a great weight had lifted and he could breathe a little better, and he was warmed by the trust he'd been able to establish with Hiero.

The leader's laughter was infectious, and Quicksilver chuckled along with him. He thumped his tail cheerfully, pl ayfully, to the mottled wolf's flank; “hey, I want to be around long enough to see those pups show you who's boss!” Themedic shot a glance over his shoulder at his teasing words, for he could imagine the High King submitted with ease to his children - especially his little girls. He would be the same, he felt, as he thought for the first time how he looked forward to rearing daughters of his own.

“Shall we finish this route?” Quicksilver moved on with a smile, not wanting to get ahead of himself. There was no telling what, exactly, fate had in store for he and Reiko, and although he was hopeful he knew it would do him no good to overthink it.


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